Volusia officials consider naming rights to raise money

It's not an uncommon practice for governments looking to pay for big projects. Orlando's Amway Center has a $40 million deal to keep its name on the building.

ANDREW GANTSTAFF WRITER

Volusia County has plenty of experience naming rooms and buildings. It has its Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building in DeLand, home of the recently dubbed Frank T. Bruno Jr. County Council Chambers. It has parks named after a Realtor, an attorney, a city councilman and two lifeguards. What it doesn't have, yet, is any revenue from naming rights. That could be about to change — if there are corporate sponsors out there willing to pay. Some Volusia officials are increasingly interested in selling naming rights for public facilities from trails to parks to the Ocean Center. If the idea becomes a reality, it would represent a departure from the way the county names its projects today — for free, in honor of people who were involved in the community. "I just know that when government cuts its revenues, there are opportunities out there that maybe we should take advantage of," Councilwoman Pat Northey said recently. "We might end up deciding it's not worth it. For years, I wasn't a particularly big supporter of sponsorships, but we're looking for revenues now, and I'm kind of changing my mind." Northey, known for her support of building and connecting public trails throughout Volusia, said she was thinking of sponsored trailheads when she warmed up to the idea. Then she went to the Amway Center for an Orlando Magic game early this week, and broadened her thinking. Could the Ocean Center use a corporate sponsor? "While some years ago, I would not have entertained any such idea, my thinking is evolving," Northey said. "Not sure what I would do if an offer came our way, but I would not discount it out of hand. I would listen to it." "That would be the one I would start with," Councilman Josh Wagner said of the county-built and -operated convention center in the center of Daytona Beach's tourist zone. Wagner said he's been promoting sponsorships "for years without gaining much traction" from past council members. "I am in full support of public facility sponsors," he said. "It is a good example of government acting like a business. We owe it to the taxpayers to maximize their investments in our community." It's not an uncommon practice for governments looking to pay for big projects. The nearby Amway Center, owned by the city of Orlando, is a prominent example: Amway has a 10-year, $40 million deal to keep its name on the building, which opened in 2010. The arena itself, including the land it sits on, cost about $480 million. Last year, in Virginia, the legislature passed a law allowing the state to sell naming rights on its bridges and roads, according to USA Today. "Shortly thereafter," according to the newspaper, "the state signed a $2 million yearly deal granting GEICO Insurance naming rights to all 43 of its rest areas." The Ocean Center, which underwent a roughly $82 million expansion in 2008, would attract a much smaller deal than Amway's. Smaller still would be the various county parks, ball fields and ecotourism facilities that could have sponsorships attached in the future. For Councilman Pat Patterson, those types of deals are more attractive than the ceremonial naming-buildings-after-people practice Volusia employs today. "If the check's big enough, and the check clears the bank, let's go for it, Bubba," Patterson said. "Even if we were rolling in the dough, I'd still go for it. It wouldn't make any difference if we had a ton of money or no money — let's do it." The county isn't entirely new to relationships with corporate partners. Coca-Cola used to be the soft drink of Volusia County, and provided vending machines with the county logo. Volusia used the revenue to hold some small special events, but it meant no Pepsi products allowed. The Beach Patrol has had sponsors in the past, too — Hawaiian Tropic used to have its logo on lifeguards' swimsuits. "That was more utilitarian," though, Northey said. "I'm talking more about capital projects ... If somebody has a foundation and they want to give me $100,000 for something, I think I'd probably consider it." The idea is still just an idea. How much the county stands to earn remains to be estimated. In Montgomery County, Md., another place where officials are proposing sponsorships, a planning board report cited research showing "other parks, county and municipal agencies nationally generate anywhere between $100,000 and $1.6 million annually." In Volusia, $1 million a year in naming rights would cover the annual shortfall facing Votran, the county's public transportation system. "If it's a corporate sponsorship, and it's not a permanent kind of thing — like naming rights for five years, I'm agreeable to that. That's the corporate Republican side of me," Patterson joked.

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